Why in news?
Australia has signed a deal with the United States and Britain to exchange nuclear secrets and materials, advancing its plan to equip its navy with nuclear-powered submarines as part of the 2021 AUKUS security accord.
This agreement binds the three countries to secure arrangements for transferring sensitive nuclear material and know-how.
What’s in today’s article?
AUKUS partnership
- About
- Signed in September 2021, the new enhanced trilateral security partnership for Indo-Pacific between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States is named as “AUKUS”.
- The first major initiative of AUKUS would be to deliver a nuclear-powered submarine fleet for Australia.
- These countries, however, made it clear that their aim is not to arm the new submarines with nuclear weapons.
- This is because Australia is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) which bans it from acquiring or deploying nuclear weapons.
- Key highlights of the deal
- The United States intends to sell Australia three US Virginia class nuclear-powered submarines, in the early 2030s, with an option for Australia to buy two more if needed.
- The multi-stage project would culminate with British and Australian production and operation of a new submarine class – SSN-AUKUS.
- SSN-AUKUS will be a trilaterally developed vessel based on Britain’s next-generation design.
- It would be built in Britain and Australia and include cutting edge U.S. technologies.
- Significance of this deal
- For US
- US has only shared nuclear submarine technology once before in 1958 with Great Britain.
- For Indo-Pacific Region
- Under this partnership, technology, scientists, industries and defence forces of these three countries will work together to deliver a safer and more secure region.
- Some analysts feel that this partnership will lead to intensified arms race in the region.
- For Australia
- Australia has never had nuclear-powered submarines.
- Hence, this step will give Australia naval heft in the Pacific, where China has been particularly aggressive.
- Critics, on the other hand, claim that this deal would antagonise Beijing which will not be good for Australia.
- Australia is now set to join an elite group of only six countries – India, US, UK, France, Russia and China – that operate nuclear-powered submarines.
- It will also be the only country to have such submarines without having a civilian nuclear power industry.
- For India
- The new pact will add to the global efforts to balance China in the region.
- It should be noted that Australia and India are close strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific region.
- Australia is also a member of QUAD group. A stronger Australia would lead to further strengthening of QUAD.
- For France
- France is not happy with the deal and has termed this deal a “stab in the back”.
- Australia had signed a contract to buy 12 Attack-class submarines from France in 2016. The first submarine was expected to be operational around 2034.
- As a result of the current deal, Australia ditched the contract.
- How China views this agreement?
- China denounced a new Indo-Pacific security alliance saying such partnerships should not target third countries.
- It claims that the current cooperation would gravely undermine regional peace and stability, aggravate arms race and hurt the international non-proliferation efforts.
- China claimed that western powers are using nuclear exports for geopolitical gaming tools.
- Under this deal, highly-sensitive nuclear powered submarine technology will be exported to Australia.
